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Officials meet on stadium plan
By SAUNDRA AMRHEIN, Times Staff Writer DADE CITY -- Likened in the past to a steam engine, the tennis stadium proposal moved more like a bullet train Thursday during a glitzy presentation by Saddlebrook Resort officials to the county on the company's plans to build a complex with $5.7-million in tourist taxes. Surrounded by top officials from the U.S. Tennis Association and the Women's Tennis Association, Saddlebrook Resort owner Tom Dempsey detailed his plan to use the money to build what he predicted would be "the fourth or fifth best" tennis facility in the United States." "To do this for $5.7-million, you're getting a world-class facility," Dempsey told five county commissioners and members of the Tourist Development Council. The tennis stadium makes sense for Pasco County, he said, and he urged the county to seize his "dream." "It's the biggest thing that can happen to (Pasco)," he added during a presentation with slides and posterboards. The presentation came during a workshop at the Historic County Courthouse in Dade City. For about an hour and a half, Dempsey presented his proposal for a 5,000-seat stadium, the centerpiece of a larger tennis complex with 14 additional courts. Grassy parking lots would double as three soccer fields. Dempsey reiterated the following promises: The county would not pay a dime over $5.7-million. Cost overruns on building the stadium would be paid by contractor Turner Construction Co. A nonprofit company would manage the complex. All operating losses would be covered by Saddlebrook Resort or one of its other companies. Surpluses would be poured back into the stadium. The entire complex should be named the Pasco National Tennis Center. The county can sell the naming rights to the stadium itself. The complex would host local tennis leagues and afterschool programs. Landowner Lee Arnold will pay for roads and donate the land for the complex. Saddlebrook would draw big tournaments such as the Davis Cup and the Federation Cup through local investors and the company's clout in the business world. The county would not have to pay to attract them. But Dempsey said he couldn't guarantee landing the tournaments until the complex was built. "There are no guarantees in the tennis world, period," Dempsey said. Members of the Tourist Development Council praised the idea, but Commissioner Pete Altman, chairman of the TDC, asked them to refrain from judgment and save time for questions. Commissioner Steve Simon lobbed the biggest complaint, which is that he didn't have more time to ask questions. Armed with a list of 17 questions, Simon said he was "frustrated" that the workshop consisted mostly of an "infomercial" put on by Saddlebrook, not discussion between the commission and the TDC. Simon recently has pushed an alternative use of the tax money collected on hotel stays: a multipurpose sports facility with soccer and softball fields. He voiced concern during the meeting about the lack of guarantees from tournament owners to bring events to Saddlebrook as well as Saddlebrook's sole control over expenses at the stadium, including choice of vendors. "I'm not satisfied with this," Simon said. About the format of the meeting, Commissioner Ann Hildebrand argued that Saddlebrook did what it was invited to do. Other commissioners and TDC members thanked Dempsey for his "impressive" presentation. After the meeting, Dempsey said superior service at the stadium depended on his maintaining sole control over expenses and vendors. "I don't want people to get food poisoning over there from a hot dog and sauerkraut when I'm running a world-class place," he said. At an earlier meeting, Commissioner Ted Schrader asked Dempsey why he thought a Pasco stadium would succeed where a similar publicly financed tennis stadium in Delray Beach loses hundreds of thousands of dollars a year. Dempsey said the Delray Beach stadium, built and expanded throughout the 1990s, was no longer state of the art. Its seating, at 8,700, was excessive for the size tournaments it drew. "They are suffering with an obsolete stadium," Dempsey said. Commissioner Pat Mulieri raised concerns about roads to access the stadium. Plans call for locating the complex near an intersection that doesn't yet exist: State Road 56 and Meadow Pointe Boulevard. At Dempsey's invitation, Arnold, the landowner behind the Meadow Point development, explained that he would not only donate the land for the complex but would pay for both the roads. The stadium site is subject to change should the county fail to acquire SR 56 right-of-way. Dempsey pointed out that the Porter family, which owns the ranch that SR 56 would cross, has hesitated to sell the land to the county. The TDC plans to meet at 2 p.m. Nov. 8 at an undetermined location to discuss the tennis stadium. Before the County Commission takes any action, it will wait to hear from budget chief Mike Nurrenbrock on his analysis of Saddlebrook's proposal. -- Staff writer James Thorner contributed to this report. Saundra Amrhein covers Pasco County government. She can be reached in west Pasco at 869-6244, or toll-free at 1-800-333-7505, ext. 6244. Her e-mail address is amrhein@sptimes.com.
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